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It’s More Important to Start, Than to Succeed

What if the choice to be curious was all that was required to become smarter, stronger, and more skilled? What if the willingness to try something new, even if it felt uncomfortable, was all that it took to start the slow march towards greatness?

Are you curious enough to raise your hand and ask for questions?

Are you willing to be vulnerable and put your skin in the game to start your own business?

Are you eager enough to improve your work that you’ll battle through the frustration of producing something mediocre?

It all boils down to this: Whether you’ll end up being the best or the worst, are you willing to start?

The more you look at things this way, the more you are going to believe that the willingness to start is the littlest thing in life that makes the biggest difference.

Step onto the field. Stand up in the meeting. Raise your hand in class.

Get under the bar. Walk up to the podium. Ask the first question.

Take a risk, get started, and contribute something.

Having the courage to start is more important than succeeding because the people who consistently get started are the only ones who can end up finishing anything.

I think a lot of what people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity.
—Aaron Swartz